A typical mailing machine has a mail inserter section where a pack of insert material is inserted into an envelope. The mailing machine may have an accumulation section where a plurality of insert documents are fed and accumulated into a stack. The accumulated documents may be folded. The mailing machine may also have a printing section for printing the insert documents or the envelopes. In order to ensure that a pack of insert material is properly inserted into a receiving envelope, the width of the envelope must be greater than the width of the pack by a certain amount. The minimum difference in width allowed on each side of the envelope is referred to as the required “end clearance”. The required end clearance depends on the thickness of the pack to be inserted into the receiving envelope. It may also depend on other factors such as the expected material tolerances, the accumulation system and the lateral offset when the accumulated documents are folded into a pack.
In general, when a pack of insert material and a receiving envelope are conveyed to the mail inserter section for mail insertion, they are separately aligned with the center line of the respective feeders. However, misalignment due to various factors may occur such that the required end clearance on one side of the receiving envelope may not be achievable.
It is thus desirable and advantageous to provide a method and system for aligning the pack of insert material relative to the receiving envelope before the insertion is carried out.